Artemis

A Novel

Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself--and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.

Opinion

From Library Staff

Jasmine “Jazz” Bashara lives on the moon’s frst colony, Artemis. Like any human settlement,
it has a criminal underbelly and through some tough decisions and wild scenarios, Jazz ends
up entangled with the government, organized crime, industrial espionage and the safety
of the entire lunar colony... Read More »

I was totally pumped for this one and it delivered. Jazz is your abrasive smart protagonist who keep trying these crazy schemes that get her in increasing amount of trouble, but then needs to pull off an insane caper to save those closest to her in Artemis. I enjoyed the book as no one takes them... Read More »

From the critics

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I listened to the audio narrated by Rosario Dawson. I did enjoy her style of narration, but I wasn't as big a fan of the story for Artemis. Set on the moon, there were some references to differences and restrictions for living on the moon, but I kind of wanted more. After reading The Martian and the level of detail in that book, I felt this one was just a little lacking.

Artemis is Weir’s follow up effort to The Martian, his first book and one that was turned into the blockbuster movie with Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain. The main character is Jazz Bashara, a non-practicing Muslim girl from Saudi Arabia who lives with 2,000 other humans in Artemis, the first and only colony on the moon. She’s a low-level criminal with a good heart, an amazing brain, a 100% smart-ass attitude.

This book reminded me a lot of The Martian and Ready Player One, in that they are sort of sci-fi/tech suspense stories. As a reader, I could tell that the female lead character was created by a man, and it was obvious throughout. It wasn’t any less entertaining because of this, but Jazz did seem to me to lack a little depth or nuance. She was a compelling main character, however, and would be a great lead character for a blockbuster movie.

I loved the time and effort Weir committed to creating a realistic world on the moon, addressing politics, economics, and a whole lot of technical detail. The build-up to the climax never really had me on the edge of my seat, however, and besides wanting to see what Jazz's new relationship with her father might look like, I didn't feel like I wanted more when the book ended.

I quite enjoyed this novel. The author didn’t put in too much technical/scientific information. That may be interesting for some readers but I was just looking for an interesting story. Andy Weir definitely delivers with this one. And I also enjoyed the section regarding the economics of space travel. I would sign up for this trip myself if I was still around.

This imaginative tale comes from Andy Weir, the author of The Martian. Although it may be another novel in space, it is a different type of story altogether. Set in a city on the moon, we follow the tale of Jazz Bashara, a lowly porter who takes smuggling jobs on the side to make ends meet. She accepts a new job, in the hopes of a big payday to finally change her circumstances in life, but quickly finds herself in way over her head. She seeks out help from an unlikely cast of supporting character—each more interesting than the last. From the immersive setting to the complex characters, this is a compelling tale that is one-part heist and two-parts adventure.

Really cool and quick read by Andy Wier. Rosario Dawson does a great job of narrating the Audio book. Follow Jas, local troublemaker and black market entrepreneur through the moon-settlement of Artemis. If you enjoyed Any Weir's "The Martian" this will push similar buttons-- science that sounds real enough to make the world believable...until you remember that you're setting is a moon-based settlement. Really fun adventure, great tough female protagonist. Highly recommend.

I listened to the audio book and Rosario Dawson really brought the characters to life. There were some great nerd references! While there was quite a bit of science I didn't understand I did not feel that I missed out on how it worked overall. I found this book to be fast paced with some great twists, while I was not completely happy with how it ended it was still an amazing book and I will be adding it to my collection for rereading/re-listening often. If you struggled with diving in to the paperback give the audio book a try!

I have seen some comments about the sexual humor is the story and it was really not that bad, a normal dose for an adult book. I would be more concerned if this was featured as a YA book but it is not....it is in the adult section.

Review excerpt: "I gobbled up 'Artemis', the new book by the author of 'The Martian', like a bag of chips. And like a bag of chips, it had many delights, but it was also problematic in many ways and altogether not very good for me. Like 'The Martian', Artemis is full of smart people, and I sure do love smart people. It’s also full of slut-shaming and bizarre comments about the main character’s body."